Keep spices dry

Living in Baja on the ocean, no spice is safe and a week after you get a new one it is clumped. Then again, I never have to worry about brown sugar getting hard or honey. The 2 things I seldom use. Oh the agony of living near the ocean. :)

I have one of these Spices to Go.

I can keep it in the RV/boat and then take it out to an outside cooking spot easily. The jars seal well which helps with keeping the spices dry.

Also I try to always put the spices into the palm of my hand and rub them before putting them into the food I'm cooking. Not only does it release the flavor but I'm not holding the spice jar over a steaming pot that will put moisture into my spice container.

I put small amounts of spices that aren't used often in small zip lock bags. The kind beads would come in. Then I keep them in a basket that a sleeve of crackers would fit in. I slip the whole basket into a gallon size zip lock bag.

FDA approved Silica Gel desiccant packets.



Just put a packet in each spice jar.

At home I keep them in the freezer. Started doing this during our ten years in the Caribbean, where spices lose taste a few months after opening.

But our RV freezer is the size of a shoebox, so I just bring them along in the tiny spice rack above the tiny sink on our long trips and hope they hang in there.

Frig. My husband keeps taking them out because he doesn't think they belong there. My son and I put them back in when he is not looking.

Some spices are oil based and I don't believe there is any way to stop migration of it. The best way, one I could never seem to follow, is to pack spices from the home larder in something set aside for the trip.
I did actually do this for a trip, and winter, too AR and it worked well. I gathered up all I thought we might need from the home supply, took it in a cheap plastic container and then returned them when we got back. it does require dedication. maybe that was my downfall.

put them in the fridge?

LT E5 wrote:
Has anyone figured out away of keeping your spices ie. salt, onion powder, garlic powder from becoming a clump of spices in the jar? I've tried the rice in the salt container with no real results.

In the RV my wife uses the Tupperware spice containers. They have an extra tight seal. Some areas have such high humidity that even that does not work. So she uses a pickle fork to break up the clumps as needed.

Have you tried putting the container in a zip loc bag?